Sometimes we believe the worst about God, that he won’t forgive. But at other times, we are too cavalier with forgiveness: “to err is human, to forgive divine” — as if forgiveness is merely God’s job. This petition gives balance. Scrip...

Phillipians 1:12-18

Scripture: Leviticus 16; Hebrews 9-10

“Give us this day our daily bread” may be the most familiar petition in this familiar prayer. But overfamiliarity with a biblical passage can lead to misunderstanding, or can reduce it to a cliche’. What is this petition saying and does it stil...

Laodicea was an incredibly prosperous and magnificent city, standing on the Roman road to the east. They thought themselves completely selfsufficient. Apparently the church in Laodicea had that same sort of attitude, bragging about their wealth...

Scripture: Psalm 46 

Scripture: Psalm 63

Scripture: Philippians 1:9-11

Philadelphia was well-known for its commercial enterprises, but also as a stopping-point, a highway exit, on one’s way to the East. In that city was a small church, struggling to hang on to its witness there. Circumstances had caused that churc...

 Last time we looked at the petition in the Lord’s Prayer: “may your kingdom come.” We noted that the kingdom is God’s active rule that happens progressively in the world and in individual lives. To pray that petition is to pray both Jesus...

Scripture: Romans 12:1-2

 Scripture: Philippians 1:3-8 

The history of Sardis is literally a “riches to rags” story. Sardis was a wealthy Lydian capital city, known for being impregnable — almost. Twice in their history there had been surprise assaults that caught them sleeping. They had not been ke...

What does it mean to pray "your kingdom come"?  Brad Young, in his book on the Lord's Prayer, states: Probably no other aspect of Jesus teaching has been so greatly misunderstood as the kingdom of heaven. Certainly, no other theme...

Imagine your job included union membership, which not only entailed paying dues, but also mandatory attendance at union meetings.  Not only did you discuss and vote on issues, but you were called to worship the "god" of the union.  An...

Scripture: Philippians 1:1-2. 

Compromise. Jesus — specifically the Jesus who in John’s vision wielded a sharp, double-edged sword — saw compromise as a growing threat for the church in Pergamum. Not that the city of Pergamum was subtle. Jesus calls it “Satan’s throne” for a...

Jesus, as we heard last week, teaches us is to pray to “Our Father,” a reminder of our intimate relationship with God, as well as his promise to care for us as children. Now we turn to a promise of our own: “hallowed be your name” Do we need to...

If love is the first mark of the Christian church — as we saw in last week’s letter to Ephesus —suffering is the next mark. It proves the genuineness of one’s love for Christ. Now he comes to them, described with words from the previous vision:...

To better understand how and what Jesus is teaching us to pray, it helps to explore Jewish aspects of prayer. It starts with the opening, which in Hebrew would be: Avinu shebashamayim (our Father in the heavens). This is a very Jewish concept, ...

Revelation 2:1-7 Jesus Christ is pictured walking among the lampstands, that is, the churches in Asia, as John witnessed in 1:20. It is a reminder of the unseen presence of Christ among the churches, and almost as if he is doing an inspection t...

God hears simple prayers, for his Spirit searched our hearts and brings them to God (Romans 8:26). But, as we grow as disciples, we should mature in prayer.  Our prayers should still have a child-like devotion, but the content of our praye...

On one hand, the headlines of our day, on the other, the book of Revelation.  Two worlds, as different as a hare-brained dictator and a seven-headed monster, as a terrorist's bomb and a bowl of wrath. How can one world speak to the other?&...

Scripture: I Corinthians 4:1-5

Scripture: Jude 20-23